Asia/Pacific News
New Zealand Signs up to Marpol Annex VI
Wednesday December 4, 2019
New Zealand is to sign up to the maritime pollution treaty International Maritime Organisation Marpol Annex VI which governs emissions from global shipping.
As a signatory, New Zealand authorities will be able to check on ships calling at its ports and participate in future negotiations to curtail ship emissions.
However, due to the process that New Zealand must follow to become a signatory, the new rules on sulfur, which set a limit at 0.5% from the current 3.5%, will not cover domestic shipping until early 2022, according to local news provider Stuff.
From January 1, the global fleet must stick to bunker fuel capped at 0.5% sulfur or have the necessary pollution mitigation equipment to continue using high sulfur fuel oil.
